An Unexpected Encounter
by Bml1997
Summary: Trixy has once again been sent to The Central Park Zoo while her habitat is under construction again. This time she should only be there a few days. But what happens when one of the penguins mysteriously disappears? This story will be Co-authored by Meagan Snow :D
1. Trixy's Arrival

**A.N.-Okay people, this is a story that Meagan Snow and I are working together on. She wrote this chapter. :D Enjoy!**

It was a quiet day in the lair of the penguins.  
Relatively.  
Skipper was playing chess with himself- Kowalski was doing something in the corner wit regular explosions and cries of, "I'll get it right now!"  
Private was watching MTV (they had just managed to hook their TV up to cable) and Rico was doing a weapons test up above.

Suddenly, a silent red light began to bathe the room in an eerie glow.  
Skipper jumped up suddenly and made a few motions too fast for Private to catch.  
He was about to ask Kowalski what had just happened when the words froze in his throat.

Down the ladder descended a certain macaroni penguin that he knew all too well.  
"Hullo, boys" she smiled, speaking in a strong London accent.

"H-Hey, Trixy!" Private came forward to greet her, once his initial surprise was over.

"What brings you here, darlin'? Did Skippsy make you leave the zoo?"  
Skipper came forward, his relaxed attitude in sharp contrast to how tense he had been seconds before.

"What?" The addressed Trixy turned around. "No, no! Skippsy would never do that!" She laughed.  
"You see, the zoo where I stay is under remodeling and I was sent over here to stay, because the zoo in Hoboken only agreed to take three and my mates were taken there, so I was sent here. It's just for a couple days, I hope I'm not intruding! If anything, I can always kip outside, or something..."

"What?" It was Private's turn to protest.  
"You're not intruding at all! One of us can sleep on the couch, and you can take a bunk! I mean, what are friends for?"

Trixy sent him a dazzling smile. "Thanks so much! I was worried I was going to have to spend the day with your friendly neighborhood lemurs..."

Skipper laughed. "I wouldn't sentence my worst enemy to a night with Ringtail, darlin'. Not if I can help it."

"It's a sleepover, then!" Trixy announced happily.

* * *

Several hours into the night, they had agreed to this setup.  
Private was on the couch, and a protesting Trixy had been placed on the bunk in his place. The other penguins were out doing something so they just had time to talk.

"So." Trixy asked, throwing his pillow at Private from his bed.  
"What do you do, around now usually now that you live here?"

"Usually? I'm exhausted from training and black out as soon as it's lights out." Private answered truthfully. "You?"

"Same." She laughed. There was silence for a while, before Private spoke up.

"How long have you lived in NY?"  
He avoided the one question in his head. _Have you missed me?_

Trixy looked thoughtful. "About three years? Maybe more?" She thought out loud.  
Then, she added quickly. "I never knew you were in New York, or I would have come to see you!"

Suddenly, a shout from above stopped their conversation short as Private felt chills come down his spine.  
A millisecond later, Skipper's head poked down the hatch.  
"ASAP, Private. Kowalski's MIA." As he spoke, he used the soldier shorthand that seemed to make everything more complicated anyway. "Meet me at the corner of the Juke.  
You." He was speaking plain English now, pointed directly to Trixy. "Stay here."

Private meet Trix's eyes, and they both knew she was going to follow them.  
"10" he motioned with his flippers. Ten steps behind them.  
Then, he scrambled up the ladder toward Skipper.


	2. I Need Options!

**A.N.—Okay, this is my chapter of the CoWriting story. Enjoy! XD**

Chapter 2: I Need Options

Trixy counts to ten in her head before climbing up after Private. She pokes her head topside and looks both ways before following after Private to Julian's habitat.

Private slides up to Skipper and Rico. "What do you mean that Kowalski's gone MIA, Skippah? He was just here a few moments ago." he asks. Skipper shrugs.

"I don't know, Private. That's the kind of thing Kowalski normally knows." Skipper replies.

"So wa we gonna oo?" Rico asks.

"Uh...we could...we could..." Skipper taps his forehead in frustrated thinking and let's out an agrivated sigh. "I don't know. I need options."

Trixy hides in a bush and watches the penguins pace as they try to come up with an idea of something to do. She then gets an idea. An idea so obvious that she couldn't see how the guys didn't see it. She gets out of the bush and waddles over to them.

"Why don't we just examine the security tapes? Then we could see who or what took Kowalski." She says. Skipper looks at her.

"What are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay in the HQ."

"You did, but since you're technically not my skippah, Skippah, I don't technically have to obey you." Skipper just looks at her slightly shocked, but he shakes it off.

"Alright, fine. We'll go with your footage idea, but you are not coming with us to save Kowalski. It's too dangerous and Skippsy would kill me if you got injured."

"Don't tell me that you're afraid of your little sistah, Skippah!"

"I'm not afraid of her."

"Sure you aren't." Skipper rolls his eyes.

"Alright, team, operation: Get Footage is a go!" The penguins (including Trixy, excluding Skipper) salute in reply. They all then slide off towards Alice's office.


	3. I Have OptionsWon't Like Them

**A.N.—This one's Meagan's chapter. Enjoy! :D**

* * *

Chapter 3: I Have Options, But You're Not Going to Like Them

As they appear outside the office window, it turns out they're a couple inches short, even when Trixy climbs onto Private's shoulders.

"What can you see? Are we clear?" Skipper calls up to Trixy.

"I can't see a thing!" She shouts back. Private shifts uncomfortably, unused to not being at the top of the tower. "Skippsy is a couple inches tallah than you!"

"Condemn those two and a half inches." Skipper swears, and earns a look from a passing Marlene.

"...I don't even want to know…" she mutters, walking past.  
Suddenly, she notices Trixy. "Hello!" she calls, her attitude taking a one-eighty. "Are you our new neighbor? Happy to meet you, I'm Marlene."

"…Hi!" Trixy calls back. "I'm Trixy, and I'm going to be staying here for a bit. It's a pleasure."

Skipper sighs. _Couldn't they save these pleasantries for a better time than this?_

"If there's anything you need help with, let me know, okay!" Marlene smiles. "And you can always stay with me, if you get tired of Sir Paranoia and co." Her tone of voice made it obvious she was kidding… sort of.

"Thanks! But Private here and I are old mates. But, now that I think, there is one thing I could use a hand with."

"Caa yuu save ee'?" Rico groans. Of all the times to have some girls talk.

"See, the boys and I are in a bit of a spot. We're one man short, literally. I was thinking, could you help us get inside the faculty building?"

"…Sure, I guess." Marlene shrugs, taking Trixy's flipper and making her way up the tower.  
Trixy grabs the windowsill to ease the weight on Private's shoulders slightly. Marlene grabs the lock of the window and flips it open. "Like that?"

"Perfect." Trixy smiles and scrambles up onto the sill, helping Private, Rico, and Skipper behind her. They look around furtively before Skipper raises his flipper in an "all-clear" gesture.

They walk over to the computer on the desk. "Okay, what now? Options?" Skipper looks around, realizing his options man is absent once again. "Private. Options."

"Well… We can turn on the computah, Skippah. Maybe it'll be connected to the cameras!"

"Brilliant. Do it."

"Who, me? I can't read!" Private protests.

"Danna loo' ah me." Rico shrugs.

"What, really! You can't read! None of you?!" Trixy calls out in disbelief.

Skipper gets a funny look on his face. "Kowalski was our tech support."

"What, really!" Trixy repeats, pressing the power button and waiting for it to power up.  
After she manages to log in and access the security cameras, she pulls up today's photos.  
Sadly, the camera only took photo a minute (black and white at that) so all they see is a dark blur tackling Kowalski from the back. Then, they only see two penguins.

"Wait- go back a frame!" Skipper instructs. Trixy taps a button and the previous frame appears on the screen. "No, before that." They see the following picture: Rico and Skipper, laughing about something, and Kowalski looking off into the distance, white as a sheet and a terrified look on his face.

"How could we be so stupid!" Skipper groans, smacking his head against the table dramatically.

Private, however, looks at Trixy in interest. "Go ovah one frame!" He says, staring at the screen intently. Again, the dark blur appears onscreen. "Can you make it largah?" He asks.

Trixy decides to leave the technical vocabulary at rest, for now, as she zooms in on the image.

Skipper suddenly notices what they're doing. "Lighten and enhance!" He instructs Trixy.

"What?! Who do you think I am, Foaly or something?!" **(A.N.–For those that don't know/remember, Foaly is a character in the Artemis Fowl book series)**

"…It sounded like something Kowalski would say. And who the heck is Foaly?" He explains as Rico snickers.

"…Nevah mind." Trixy says, annoyed at the fact that she had forgotten none of them could read. "I can't do anything more. But I know someone who can…" she trails off, thinking of her genius teammate Marissa. "But Skippah, you're not going to like it. "


	4. Hoboken Zoo

**A.N.—My chapter XD Enjoy**

* * *

Chapter 4: Hoboken Zoo

"What's this plan that I won't like?" Skipper asks.

"Well, sir, we could go see if we could talk Marissa into helping us." Trixy says.

"WHAAAT! No way, no how, Trixy. We are _NOT_ going to Hoboken Zoo to consult my sister's lieutenant about this." Skipper says waving his flippers around in emphasis of his words.

"But, Skippah! It's the only way that we'll be able to see who the Buckingham Kowalski-napped Kowalski!"

"I said no, soldier; N. O. O."

"Actually, sir, no is spelled n-o, not n-o-o. But, besides that, Skippah, that's the ONLY option; Marissa knows about this kind of thing. Come on, Skippah, _please_!" Trixy clasps her flippers together in a pleading motion. "For Kowalski's sake." She even throws into use her best puppy-dog face. Skipper looks at her and then sighs.

"Fine, we'll go see my sister and ask her if we can borrow Marissa." He then looks at Private and Rico. "Come on, boys, we're going to Hoboken."

"I believe that you're forgetting something, sir. I have to go too, if we are going to get them to agree to helping you...us...Kowalski." Skipper face-flippers himself with a sigh.

"Alright, you can come too." Skipper starts to waddle away towards the little pink zoo coup. Trixy looks at Private with a triumphant grin on her beak. Private smiles back, though he was quite surprised that she had been able to change Skipper's mind so quickly. Rico hops into the driver's seat and Skipper takes shot-gun, while Private and Trixy each sit in the back. Rico then drives the little car out of the zoo and through New York to Hoboken, New Jersey.

* * *

Rico pulls up beside the penguin habitat at Hoboken Zoo. All four penguins hop out of the little car. "Okay, men...and Trixy, everyone be on top guard. The girls aren't the only inhabitants of this zoo at the moment and you never know when or if Hans or or assorted other villains will jump out." Skipper says lifting his flippers into a ready to fight position.

"Yes, sir." say Rico, Private, and Trixy. Skipper nods and gives them the motions to hop into the habitat. They then open up a fish-bowl hatch and drop down into the habitat.

"Hello? Skippsy? Are you here?" Skipper calls waddling into the HQ. A penguin with a bob feather-do, ice blue eyes, and is holding a cup of fish-coffee walks into the room.

"Skipper? What the deuce are you doing here?" Skippsy says putting her free flipper on her hip.

"Nice to see you too, Skippsy." Skipper rolls his eyes. "We need to borrow your lieutenant."

"What? Why do you need Marissa?"

"Classified."

"Hmm, classified...yeah, I don't think you're getting her, Skips. Sorry." Trixy watches them go on and on like this and sighs.

"Skippsy, ma'am, we need Marissa because Kowalski's gone MIA and the only lead we have on the mattah is on video footage and I don't know how to work the program completely yet, and Marissa does." Trixy says. Skippsy looks at Trixy surprised.

"Trixy? I was wondering where the zoo-overlords had sent you, so you're staying in Central Park?"

Trixy nods. "Yes, ma'am."

Skippsy nods and then thinks for a moment. "Rachel and Marissa should be in the temporary lab, Trixy, if you'd like to say hey."

"Umm, Skippsy, may we have Marissa help us...them find Kowalski? Please?"

"Well, since you asked so nicely, soldier, I guess so." Skippsy ruffles Trixy's hair and gives a sly look to her older twin brother, Skipper. Skipper face-flippers himself in annoyance.

"Thank you, Skippsy."

"Any time, soldier." Trixy then disappears into the make-shift lab after Marissa. Skippsy then notices Rico and Private. "And who would you two be?"

"Rico." says Rico.

"I'm Private, ma'am." says Private.

"Oh, so you're the little penguin that Trixy goes on and on about when she's at the HQ." Skippsy says taking a sip of her coffee, she then looks at Skipper. Skipper crosses his flippers and looks back.

"What?" he asks.

"Classified." Skippsy grins back. Skipper gives her an unamused look.

"Very funny, Skippsy, very funny."


	5. Lighten and Enhance

**A.N.—Okay, and here's Meagan's chapter! :D**

* * *

Chapter 5: Lighten and Enhance

"Hey, Marissa!" Trixy calls, breaking into the temporary lab, then freezes. "Well…" she stammers, amazed at the sight before her.

"Hey, Trixie!" Marissa calls back, getting up and walking toward the pair. She had set up an incredible control center inside of a large, stone room, complete with plasma-screen monitors on the walls and a set of brand-new laptops.

"Buckingham…" Trixy whispers, staring around with wide eyes. "Did you do all this?"

"Mhm. It's incredible, isn't it! I wonder what your friend Kowalski would say to this." She scoffs. "It turns out, there's an electronics store next-door to the zoo, and they throw out any piece that is even just a bit broken! Can you believe it! Like look over here at this baby." She gestures to the computer at the far end of the room. "I put her together from an old body, a programmer's keyboard with a couple of keys missing (plus assorted keys) and a rotary computer mouse. It's a drag, but I don't use it a lot. It's easier to use the keyboard anyway!

"Anyway. Can you believe this. I got her motherboard like, for free because they chucked it! You know why? Because one of the wires was frayed through! I mean, puh-lease! It took me thirty seconds to fix AND it's got the new Windows on it, to boot! And look at this screen. It's-"

"Wow, that's- uh, very interesting, Mari! But I'm actually here because I need a favoh."

"Uh huh, what kind of a favor?" Marissa asks, only half-paying attention (and half-checking something out on her Frankencomputer.)

"Well, see, I was taken to the Central Park zoo and the boys and I, we need you to check out this computah."

"You've got my interest." She smiles, grabbing a couple of cables and connecting them. "What's up?"

"See, one of the team has gone missing. And it's been captured on a security camera, and I'm not sure how to operate the software."

"So. What'cha need me for? They've got their GENIUS Kowalski, don't they?" She asks, a bit bitterly. "Unless he's capitulated and decided to give in to my finer mind?"

"Ah, see, it's Kowalski that's gone missing. And we need you to help us find him."

"What? No, no, nonononono. Absolutely not. No way. Keep me out of this."

"Please, Mari!" Trixy pleads. "We need your help!"

"Absolutely, definitely no. Not for seven thousand fishsticks would I even bend a flipper trying to help him."

"C'mon, Mari. I promise, we'll make it up to you. Really! Besides, imagine the gloating you can do once you save his sorry feathered rump."

"…" Marissa thinks for a moment. "…All right. I'll do it."

Trixy laughs an gives her a big hug.

"Thanks, Mari!"

"Mm, okay." Marissa squirms her way out of the girl's grasp. "RACHEL! Get in here!"

"Sí." Rachel gives Marissa a Look before walking in. "What's up?"

"Be a dear and power up the big screen. We're going to be looking at a photograph taken at night with a bad camera."

"Wh- how did you know?" Trixy protests.

"I know everything, Trixy. And what I don't know, I figure out. I'm a spy. It's my job to know things. Yours, too."

Marissa opens a program that Trixy recognizes as her custom Internet browser, MariSearch.

"What. You're just going to Google it?" Trixy asks in disbelief. "You think it'll be on there?"

"Nope." Marissa answers, typing a series of words into the browser.

After a couple seconds, she taps the "Enter" key and waits as the photos download.

"You can go call the others now." She says, not looking up from the monitor as she pulls up her photo editing software.

Trixy gets up and walks over to all the boys inside. They come in just in time to see the figure on the screen come into focus.

"Impossible." Slips out of Skipper's beak.


	6. We'll Come Too

**A.N.—Okay, here is my chapter 6! I appologize for the delay, I had writer's block. Anyway, enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 6: We'll Come Too

The others quickly look at the screen. "A b-b-ba-ba-ohhhhhh." Private stutters before fainting. Skippsy looks at him with a raised non-existent eyebrow.

"Uhh, is he going to be okay?" she asks. Both Trixy and Skipper look at Private and nod.

"Yes, ma'am, he'll be fine. He's just... um...badgah-phobic." Trixy says. She looks back at the big-screen and the picture. In the picture it shows an evil looking honey badger and Kowalski with himself frozen in horror. "Um, Skippah, do you know this badgah?" Skipper nods slowly.

"Well, not personally...but I saw about him in Kowalski's file..." Skipper says. "That's—"

"That's Sami Perry Badger, one of the infamous Badger Twins!" Skippsy interrupts, earning a look from Skipper.

"How do you know them?"

"From the same file, Skipps." Skippsy winks mischievously. Skipper frowns at her.

"And since when are you allowed to read my soldiers' files?" Skippsy shrugs.

"Classified." She sticks her tongue out at Skipper as Private slowly comes to.

"Oww…" he mutters, rubbing his head where he fell. Suddenly, he remembers the badger and dives behind Trixy, shaking. "I-is it still there?" Trixy turns and looks at him.

"The photo of Kowalski and the ba–...I mean, and the you-know-what?" she asks. Private nods. "Then, yes, it is." Private puts his flippers over his eyes; Trixy pats him on the head. "Umm, Marissa, could you please turn off the big screen?" Marissa nods and pushes a button on her computer. The screen turns off. "Okay, Priv, it's gone now."

Private slowly lifts his head. "You're sure?"

"Completely positive." Trixy nods. Private slowly stands up and dusts himself off. He looks at the screen, sees nothing, and sighs in relief.

"So, de ba'ers ha' Ko'a'ski?" Rico asks. Everyone nods.

"Alright, Marissa could you print us out their coordinates?" Skipper asks. Marissa raises a nonexistent eyebrow.

"Could I? Yes, a thousand times, yes, I could. But would I? That's a different question..." Marissa answers. She earns a cold, warning look from Skippsy. "Erm, I mean, yes, I would." Skipper nods. Marissa waddles back over to her franken-computer and gets back onto Mari-Search. "Let's see..." She types in a few things and the computer make a beeping sound. "Mmm hmmmm..." She presses another button and prints a location off the computer. She grabs the paper and looks at it. "The Badger Twins have taken up residence at..." Marissa gasps.

"Where?" Skipper and Skippsy both ask.

"You'd never guess."

Skipper and Skippsy exchange a look. "Central Park." They guess. Marissa nods.

"Yes, ma'am and sir, west of the Central Park Zoo, to be more exact."

"So, you mean West Park Zoo?" Skippsy asks; Marissa nods. "Well, in that case, we'll come too."

"_What?!_" exclaims Marissa. Skippsy looks at her.

"You heard me, soldier." she then turns to Rachel. "Rachel, go get our car. Skipper, we'll meet you outside." Skipper nods and then he and his team and Trixy go out to their own car and wait for Skippsy, Rachel, and Marissa. "Alright, let's go."


	7. Pile In!

**A.N.—Here is Meagan's chapter. She came up with it from being stuck in a traffic jam and she and another family member...I think her brother, had an argument similar to Skipper's and Skippsy's. Enjoy! :)**

* * *

Chapter 7: Pile In

As they all pile into the cars in much the same configuration (Trixy had moved to the car driven by Rachel, much to her dismay), the ride is much less of a smooth one. Several times they had to pull over and assure Skippsy and the rest, that yes, driving through Massachusetts is indeed part of the plan. And so is Chicago, Illinois and Nashville, Tennessee, apparently.

Finally, when they somehow end up in Houston, Texas, Rachel honks her horn and makes a gesture for them to pull over. "You know what, caballeros? You're cool and all, no offense or anything, okay? Amigos and all that." She begins. "But how about I lead the caravan for a bit? I mean, we are in southern Texas…"

"_No_! We're _NOT_ lost." Skipper protests, with a glare to Skippsy.

"You said it, I didn't." The sister replies.

"'Erre goo'" Rico insists. "I dri'e!" Skippsy starts to argue, but Trixy leans forward and honks the horn.

"Hello! I think we are on a rescue mission!" She shouts. They all nod.

"We should go." Skippsy affirms, but Rico gives her a Look.

"I dri'e." he says.

Rachel laughs. "Just… try to head North, sí?"

Some time later in Phoenix, Arizona, they stop for a bathroom...and French fries break at McDonalds.

"Rico…" Rachel begins. "I've noticed you've been driving in the right general direction now. Muy bien. But… I really would like to know why you have Olympus, Washington marked on your map. It seems… well, to be honest, seems a bit loco, seeing as we want to end up in New York."

Rico shrugs. "Se'es righ' ta me."

"See, the thing is, I have a GPS system in my car. And I was thinking…"

Rico shrugs. "Ok'y. I'll le' you head."

"Thanks!" Rachel gives him a dazzling smile from under the purple-striped bangs in her blue eyes. "I appreciate it, compadre."

"No prob'm."

As they drive back toward New York (taking the non-scenic route, this time), their route is less eventful, but for two more bathroom stops and a driving ticket. Private vaguely wonders what is going through the cop's head as he gives the speeding ticket to an enraged Rico, who shells out the required fifty bucks and carries on.

By some weird stroke of luck, they end up right back in Hoboken, New Jersey. It's now Skipper that honks Rico's horn and motions for them to pull over. "We're right back where we started!" He shouts toward the other car. "That's what happens when you let a woman drive!"

"What, us?!" Skippsy cuts right back. "**_YOU_** ended us up in _**Houston**_!"

"And _**YOU**_ ended us in **_Hoboken_**!"

"**_SO_**? It's a pit stop! We have a plan… and a _**MAP**_!"

"We have a map, too! Look, see! Kowalski's smartphone. **_APPLE MAPS_**!"

"Yeah? Well, it doesn't matter what you think! Apple Maps are inferior to our navigation system!"

"Yeah, right. And who, may I ask, designed it, now that it took us back to square one?"

"Me." Marissa says coldly. "And in case you haven't noticed, New York is _NORTH_ of New Jersey. Texas is _SOUTH_. And if you'll excuse me, **_what_** was that comment about my navigational software?" Rico meets Rachel's eyes and shrugs. They exchange a few quick, hushed sentences in Spanish, before turning around to the rest.

"Seeing as we're on a rescue mission and in a hurry, we've decided to let your car lead." says Rachel. Skippsy gives the girl a glare, while Skipper looks smug. "However. I will drive his, while Rico will drive my car. And I take our navigation system. And no more pit stops. Remember this is a rescue mission!"

Everyone stares. The first person to speak is Skipper. "…Excellent plan, soldier! Mission Trade Rides is a go, go…"

He is silenced with a flipper from Skippsy. "Not _everything_ is a mission." she says, which earns her a glare. Suddenly, Skipper's car sputters and steam begins to pour out from under the hood.

"Blast!" Skipper shouts, jumping forward to raise the hood and is blasted by more steam. "Rico, analysis!"

"O'er heat'd." Rico says, looking toward the other car. Rachel catches the look.

"Oh, no. **NO** way, señor. Not in a million years. Not if you…"

"Pile in!"


	8. Musical Quarrels

**A.N. - My chapter. XD (I'm sooo sorry for not posting anything for a while. Writer's block is horrible! And I am now going to stop complaining about it and let y'all read XD) Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 8: Musical Quarrels

"Now wait just a fishsticking second." orders Skippsy holding out her flipper in a stop motion. "How the deuce are WE going to fit seven and later eight of us in this tiny car?! It can barely hold five when we need it, but eight?! Marissa, give us some logical options." Marissa looks at Skippsy with a frown; she never gave illogical options.

"We could do two things, ma'am. We could pile in and some us will have to sit in other's laps OR we could commandeer a cab." Marissa replies, not even having to take out her green clipboard. Skippsy nods.

"Alright, we'll put this up to vote. All in favor of commandeering a taxi say aye. Aye!" she says raising her flipper.

"Aye!" say Skipper and Marissa each raising their own flipper.

"Sí!" says Rachel, also holding up her right flipper.

"Yes, let's go get the cab." says Private nodding.

"'Eah, 'ure." says Rico shrugging. Skippsy and Skipper look at Trixy who hadn't said anything.

"Uh, yes, aye." Trixy says with a small nervous laugh, though she would have been perfectly fine with the other option. Skippsy face-flippers and shakes her head slowly with a sigh.

"Okay, then cab commandeering it will be." Skippsy says.

The penguins pile on top of each other with Rico's trench coat and hat, and fake hands, and Marissa's speech device. "STOP POLICE" She commands a passing cab, while Rico steps in front of it. They are assailed by an angry cab driver… with rather a colorful vocabulary.

"What the - do you think you're - you…" but Skipper somersaults forward and knocks him out before he can finish that sentence.

"Couldn't let the privates hear how that would have ended." He told Skippsy. Skippsy smirks and the rest of them pile into the cab.

"Punch it!" order Skipper and Skippsy in unison. Private and Trixy drop down to the gas pedal at the same time.

"Ohh… you go ahead." They say at the same time, with an awkward laugh.

"Ahem! Privates, if you don't mind…" Skippsy crosses her flippers. Trixy glances upward at Skippsy.

"You can do it, Priv." she says with a smile.

"Are you sure? You could do it if you'd like." Private replies. Skippsy and Skipper give aggravated sighs.

"Today, please." They order. Trixy and Private nod and then Private pushes down the gas pedal. Rachel sits the GPS on the dashboard and Rico steers the taxi. Meanwhile both Skipper and Skippsy sit in the shot-gun seat and Marissa sits in the back with Rachel and the knocked-out taxi driver. "Music options?" Both Rachel and Rico regurgitate some options and toss them towards their commanding officers.

"Let's see..." Skippsy starts. "Train, Enrich Iglesias, Alejandro Mateo–" Skippsy gives Rachel a glance.

"Oh! You probably don't want to listen to that." says Rachel quickly snatching that disk back.

"Coldplay, Journey, and oh, Def Leopard, Poison, and Europe." Skippsy finishes.

"We are not listening to one of your 80s Hairbands, Skippsy." says Skipper.

"Oh really? Then you have 'better' music then, Skips?" Skippsy crosses her flippers.

"Not better, MUCH better." Skipper looks at his music choices. "We have the Lunicorns..." Skipper looks down at Private. "Guns 'n Roses, Queen, Neon Trees, Bruno Mars, and My Chemical Romance."

"Hmmm...You have one of my Hairbands within your options. But, even so, I prefer MY music."

"Um, excuse me." Trixy says. Skipper and Skippsy ignore her.

"Your options? Mine are much, much better!"

"Um, no. They're not. Mine are."

"Excuse me." Trixy tries again. Rachel hears her.

"Skipper and Skippsy!" Rachel says loudly. They both stop their argument and look at her.

"What?" they say.

"We're here." say both Rachel and Trixy.

"Oh. I guess we don't need music then." Skippsy says.

"Everyone, out of the cab." Skipper orders.


	9. Interrogation

**A.N.—Here is Meagan's chapter! Enjoy :D**

* * *

Chapter 9: Interrogation

"What do you even want from me?!" Kowalski shouts, his voice getting dangerously high-pitched. Being kidnapped, tied to a chair, and interrogated has made it hard for him to remain calm and in control. As a matter of fact, he is trying not to panic, because the person in the shadows in front of him doesn't look like a person with good intentions.

"I told you." A tall female badger with a strong Russian accent crosses her arms as she gives him an ice-cold glare, coming forward into the light. "You wouldn't talk for my brother, well, not a lot of people do. But you will. Talk to me."

Kowalski crosses his flippers stubbornly. He doesn't recognize her, or does he? He knows that this is not a person to be played with, unlike his… previous interrogator. He attempts to play for time. "I couldn't even understand a word he said, how could I answer his questions?"

The woman growls dangerously, irritated. "I just told you, ridiculous bird. Where is the girl?"

"What girl?" A list of females that international criminals could be looking for scrolls through his head. The list is short. Marissa. He had known that he would end up covering for her ridiculous actions someday.

"You know perfectly well who I am talking about. The spy girl." She narrows her eyes and smiles, revealing rows of pointy teeth. "You know her well, no?"

"Yes, well as a matter of fact I don't know who you are looking for. I'm a scientist, not a spy. You have the wrong man!" Kowalski lies through his teeth. This can't end well for him, but at least it will be written in his obituary that he isn't a coward _Oh, Marissa owes me big-time._

"Yes? Then allow me to refresh your memory." She presses a button, and ten thousand volts rush through his body. Kowalski screams in pain. It seems like the shock lasts ages, even though it is just a few seconds. "Where is she." The badger hisses again, slapping him in the face. "The spy girl. I will ask one last time. Where. Is. Doris the Dolphin?!"

* * *

The penguins leap out of the "borrowed" taxicab and get into their battle-ready positions. "Stay frosty. Search the terrain, each of us takes a sector with a partner, make sure each team has a… competent officer." Skipper commands.

"Watch it, Skips." Skippsy warns. "Who are you calling incompetent?"

Skipper ignores her and focuses on Trixy. "You. Female private, with me. Female lieutenant, with Rico. Female weaponry expert, with Private. You, female Skipper…" he measures his sister visually, knowing that that description would annoy her. "With Rico and the lieutenant."

"Who gave you permission to pair up my team as you pleased?" Skippsy protests. "I say that you, Trixy, make sure my brother doesn't do anything stupid. Marissa, you and me will watch over that dynamite maniac over there. Rachel, that leaves you with Private. Move out!"

"Uh, ma'am, those are the exact same options that Skipper Skipper gave." Marissa notices in a whisper to Skippsy.

"I know. I just wanted to make it sound like it came from me." Skippsy whispers back, before raising her voice again. "All right!" She calls. "Move out! Team Private-Skipper, four o' clock. Team Weaponry-Private, dead ahead. That's twelve. Team Skipper-Lieutenant-Expert, which is us, takes eight o' clock. This mission." She gives Skipper a meaningful look. "Is a go, go, go!"


	10. Search and Rescue?

**A.N.— Hey, everyone :D Here finally is chapter 10! Hope you enjoy :D (And sorry about the _long_ wait)**

**Btw, Meg wrote this upper half and I wrote the lower half :)**

* * *

Chapter 10: Search and Rescue?

Kowalski shouts something incoherent, still denying everything that the woman demands of him, no longer caring whether anything he says made sense. He hears more than sees the slap coming and feels the metallic taste of blood explode inside his cheek. She shouts something at him that he doesn't understand anymore. Kowalski had always had the tendency to tune out and lose it when he was dazed or panicked, and it had come back with full strength."DORIS!" The one word cuts its way through his muddled, hysterical consciousness. "TELL ME!"

Kowalski tries to focus enough to form a coherent answer but before he can gather his thoughts, another slap comes and makes him see stars. "I CAN'T" He finally protests, on the very verge of consciousness. With the last of his strength, he murmurs, "Doris…" He blacks out, but only for a second. He is brought back to consciousness with another jolt of electricity.

"So you DO know her!" Sani Perry Badger triumphs. "And you know where she is, don't you?" To Kowalski, it sounds more like a jumble of meaningless words that his brain refuses to process. His _genius_ brain. What good is it doing him now, refusing to allow him to understand anything? He shouts something back, not in words but just a shout, something to deny anything. He would die here, but he can't give Doris away. His love for her is too strong for that. Yes, it is true. He loves her, even though she never will. She hisses at him, that much he can see. He can see her paw, poised like a snake ready to strike at any moment.

His whole body shakes as he prepares for another blow, but another doesn't come. Instead, the harsh light in the room is suddenly dimmed, and he can see another figure walk into the room. A male figure, that stands in front of him and shields him from the interrogator. Harsh words are passed in Russian, and with his very rudimentary grasp on Polish (which is, in essence, very similar) he can understand the repeated word "Enough!"

"Get out of my way, _idiota._" With his returning senses, he can distinguish her hissing at him.

"_Nyet_. You have done enough. Get out of the room." The male voice growls. Despite sounding furious, it seems to Kowalski like more of a friendly and accessible voice. Had Kowalski been thinking straight, he would have recognized the typical good cop/bad cop situation, but as it was, he can barely believe it as his bonds were cut.

Still shaking violently, he looks up at his savior. It had been the same man who had interrogated him first, with nothing more than a lamp and a desk. "She has gone too far." He mutters, extending a hand to Kowalski to help him move to a more comfortable chair on the side of the room. He shrinks away from it, but the badger hands him the control device for the electric chair. "See. I will not shock you." He promises. In Kowalski's eyes, his savior seems almost to be an angel.

"I am sorry for my sister's actions." Sami continues. "I did not know she did this." Kowalski nods, in vague agreement but also because he still only understands around half of what is being said through the man's strong accent and his own confusion. "You are Kowalski, am I correct?" He asks, pronouncing his name in a way that Kowalski hasn't heard since he was a child. He nods again, too weary, shocked, relieved, or terrified to wonder where this conversation is heading.

The badger settles forward, a friendly expression on his face. "Kowalski. Here is the thing. I am on your side, and I can send some of my best men to protect this Doris." His voice is deep and has an almost hypnotic melodic lilt.

Kowalski smiles. This man seems to be honest, but…"NO!" He screams, backing away. "I can't tell any of you! You will just tell her…!" But his resolve is waning. One can only resist so long…

* * *

The penguins break off into their assigned groups and start looking for a possible hide-out.

Trixy slides along just barely keeping up with Skipper. She looks around for any possible entrances that Skipper may have past in his haste; she knows that that's what Skippsy would want her to do. After a few minutes Skipper stops and looks a bit impatiently back at Trixy. Trixy uses this brief second to catch up to him. "Sorry, sir." She says. Skipper rolls his eyes and starts sliding again.

Rachel waddles along beside Private. She regurgitates a couple of flashlights and gives one to Private. "Here." She says.

"Thank you." Private says and accepts the flashlight with a nod. Rachel nods and turns her flashlight on and shines it around. She doesn't see anything yet, and neither does Private.

Skippsy, Marissa, and Rico waddle in their assigned direction. Rico has passed them each a flashlight. "By my calculations, ma'am, we should be looking for a cave entrance." Marissa says while adjusting her brown glasses.

Skippsy nods. "Well, Marissa, the fact that we are looking for a badger den does support your 'theory,' doesn't it?" Skippsy says and rolls her eyes some.

Marissa looks at Skippsy with a small blush. "Erm...right, right." She gets out her clipboard and pencil and makes a few calculations on a map. She waddles forward as she does so.

Rico wanders around, sniffing at the ground like a tracking hound. "'Walski? 'Ere, 'Walski, 'Walski, 'Walski." He mumbles as he does so.

Skippsy sees him doing this and gives him a slightly amused look. "Have you got a scent there, boy?" She says a bit jokingly.

Rico looks up at her and shakes his head. "Nuh uh."

Skippsy nods. "Alright then...Keep up the...Uh...Good work?" She looks at him and then shakes her head. She, after thinking for a second, is very thankful that Rachel is a little saner than this particular weapons specialist that she is now with.

"ARCHIMEDES'S ANCHOVIES!" Marissa exclaims as she suddenly falls through a hidden cave entrance as she waddles and calculates.

Skippsy and Rico immediately slide over to her and the entrance. "Good work, soldier." Skippsy congratulates. She then gets out her radio and radios Trixy and Rachel. "Girls, grab your group-members and come over this way. Marissa's found the entrance." She orders.

Marissa stands up and dusts herself off while she murmurs some very choice phrases about how Kowalski is going to pay dearly for getting kidnapped and making her fall down a cave entrance. She then waits impatiently for the others to come down into the cave as well. She doesn't have to wait very long.

The others hop down into the cave in their fighting stances, ready to fight whatever is going to come at them. As they walk inside and look around, the cave unsurprisingly quiet and empty. No guards. No minions. Just them and bare dirt walls. Suddenly, a cold, heavily accented voice comes from behind them. "I have been expecting you. All of you."

A hidden six-inch-steel door slides across the door as a honey badger appears out of the shadows. "That door is titanium-reinforced-steel, _da_? There is no way you are getting out. You are ours now." Sani Perry Badger continues to speak. Marissa glances at Skippsy nervously, but the latter's eyes are fixed only on Skipper.

"Well…" The penguin suddenly drawls. "That's a pity, isn't it?" Everybody freezes in surprise at his nonchalant attitude, but he only continues. "Cause, you see, Ruskies, I wasn't trying to get out. I was trying to get IN."

The badger looks at Skipper weirdly and then with a threatening glare. "Is that so? And for what reason could you have to want to come bursting into our home?"

Skippsy crosses her flippers and looks hardly at the evil badger twin. "I believe you know _perfectly_ well what we're doing here." She says.

"Right. We want our soldier back, and we _won't_ take no for an answer." Skipper says with a nod, as he for once agrees with Skippsy.

"Oh? Then how about _nyet_?" Sani replies with a smirk.

Skipper and Skippsy look at her. "We won't take whatever that means either." They says in unison. "We are getting Kowalski back."

"You know, _da_, that I can not let you do that?" Sani says with a smirk. The honey badger gets into her fighting stance and then motions for the penguins to come.

Skipper and Skippsy look at each other. "Can't she tell that she's outnumbered?" Skippsy mutters silently under her breath to Skipper. Suddenly several other badgers enter the room right after Sani pushes a hidden button.

"Oh, d-d-dear..." Private says before fainting from the overwhelming sight of so many badgers.

The rest of the penguins get into their fighting stances and look towards the rapidly advancing badgers. "Hold formation..." Skippsy orders. They wait until the badgers are almost right in too of them. "NOW!" She orders. The penguins break their formation and start fighting with the badgers. Skippsy and Skipper race to Sani each trying to get to her first to fight her. Sani meanwhile rolls her eyes and moves just out of the way and let's them collide into each other. "Oof!"

"You penguins are so stupid..." Sani mutters as she looks at them on the floor.

Private manages to wake back up and blearily looks around the room. He then notices that Trixy is surrounded and is struggling against some badgers. "Oh no they don't..." He mutters and he then, despite his fear of badgers, slides quickly over to Trixy and helps her fight off the badgers.

Rico and Rachel happily regurgitate various weapons, like the flame-thrower, and use them on the approaching badgers.

Marissa, though, sneaks away from the hench-badgers. She stealthily sneaks up behind Sani Perry and leaps up onto her back.

"What is this!" Sani exclaims as she tries to claw Marissa from off of her.

Skipper and Skippsy get off the floor with a look to Marissa. Marissa continues to hold on to Sani. "This is payback, Sani." Marissa whispers harshly into Sani's ear. She then quickly hops off of Sani's back and kicks her legs out from under her. Sani falls on the ground. Hard.

"Don't think that this will be the end, Marissa. We _will_ be getting our revenge." Sani growls as Skippsy has Rachel regurgitate a rope and then proceeds to tie the growling Sani up.

The other penguins then all go over to the door. Marissa opens it cautiously. The sight inside is not pretty.

* * *

**CoA/N: Hi, this is Meg speaking! I hope you're enjoying our story so far! Anyway, I just wanted to ask all you readers if I wasn't making the gap between Kowalski's situation and the others' too wide. Because most of the time, I try to imitate BML's style of writing, but I gave myself a bit of liberty with the interrogation and I'd like to know your thoughts on it…?**


	11. Caring?

**A.N.- Here's Meg's chapter :D **

**We hope you enjoy :)**

* * *

Chapter 11: Caring?

Kowalski stares at the figure in front of him nervously. "What do you mean, you can help Doris? What's wrong with her?"

Sami shakes his head. "She is very sick, the dolphin girl. If I do not find her, she will be in very much pain."

Conflicting emotions swirled in Kowalski's heart, his distrust for the badger mingling with a cry to protect his tries his best to think analytically, but the panic seems to haze his reactions. He has to help Doris. He can't let her suffer. He takes a deep breath and finally belts out: "She will be passing by the Gulf of Mexico next week, not far from Houston in Texas. She said she was taking a vacation from whatever it is that she does and was going to spend two weeks down there because of the nice weather."

He regrets his decision the instant the words are out of his beak. The kind, caring expression on Sami's face is quickly replaced by a smile of cruel amusement, a terrible glint in his eyes. "Smart man." He comments, knocking Kowalski under the chin with an extended claw. Then, he gets up and leaves the room in a few long strides, shutting off the lights behind him.

Kowalski is suddenly surrounded by a total darkness, but he doesn't care. His heart has broken, knowing that he had betrayed Doris' trust in him, naïve like a newborn chick. He curls up in a ball, resting his face against the cool, concrete wall of the room he had been interrogated in and cries, in terrible, heart-wrenching sobs that he thinks will never cease. He cries until he can't cry anymore, and then for a time after that, until he is so cold and exhausted that he simply leans against the wall, facing the corner, plagued with self-hatred. Tears are still streaming down his face and the occasional sob escapes his beak.

That is the way the two teams find him, in the light of the open door, as a wreck of the strong penguin he had once been. Private hides his head in Trixy's shoulder, and the others just stand, unmoving, unable to think about what he must have been going through for those past twelve hours.

The only penguin who moves is Marissa, who doesn't hesitate to kneel down before him and wrap him into a comforting hug while he sobs into her shoulder, any former enmity forgotten. On any other occasion, she would never have done this, knowing that she would have been faced with both her team's teasing, and what is more crushing, Kowalski's rejection. But to see him like this, like a broken shell of the Kowalski she had known, it breaks her heart like nothing else could. Because despite everything, she does have a heart. And the person who did this to him will have Hades to pay.

She grasps him until his sobs calm, but he still grips her tightly, as if she were about to leave him. "I gave her away." He suddenly whispers, eyes fixed on a point that probably only he can see. "Doris. I betrayed her."

She mercilessly stamps down the sudden twinge of jealousy that threatens to appear in her heart. "Shh. It's okay, the Twins won't tell anyone. I gave them a dose of amnesiac serum, and they'll be lucky to remember a word you said. 'And,' she adds in her mind, 'Even that won't be enough to save them from finding them and exacting her revenge.' She will find them if they hide on the end of the world.

Kowalski shakes his head. "You don't understand. I betrayed her!" He repeats, the tears beginning to flow anew. Marissa rocks gently, but her mind flies to all the horrific things that they must have done to him to weaken his steel resolve. To break him.

"It wasn't your fault." She says gently. "You lasted a lot longer than anybody else could or would." When Skipper opens his beak to object, but she shoots him a glare so murderous that he quickly closes it and falls silent.

Kowalski shakes his head. "They said… they said that she was a spy. And then they said they would hurt her."

"Bull." Marissa says forcefully, and her use of language makes Kowalski stop in surprise. This is her version of a classic Skipper smack to the face.

"The Twins aren't hurting anybody anytime soon. I'm making sure of that myself. Come on, get up, we are getting you back to the zoo." She pulls him up by the flipper and he follows, obediently, as if on a leash, his eyes hollow and haunted. She notices that he is still shaking from his ordeal, but decides that they will have time to talk over it gently in the car. Right now, he has to get himself together to make it back to the taxi.

When they finally reach it, Marissa motions for everyone to get inside first. They will need the privates for the the gas pedals, Skipper on top to give directions and Rachel to drive, while Skippsy and Rico share the front seat, which means that Marissa and Kowalski are alone on the back row.

She tries to squeeze his flipper reassuringly, but when she makes to pull it out to get up, she finds that he is gripping it as if for his life. With a worried, tolerant sigh, she manages to climb it one-flippered, all the while helping him climb in. He allows her to strap him in like an obedient child, still severely in shock.

As they drive practically in silence except for the noises of the wheels of the cab on the run-down road, Marissa allows herself to finally relax and her mind to wander. On the long drive back (the Skippers decide that it will be better for all of them if the eight-some stayed at Central Park) she tries to devise a plan of action.

Should she return behind her abrasive mask as a way to snap him out of the shock? No… it would have given short-term effects but made the trauma worse in the long run. But then again, if she stays "nice," won't people begin to suspect something? Despite being an army doctor, she has to draw a line. And what will Kowalski say when he comes to?

'_It doesn't matter._' She suddenly decides. He is her friend (well… frienemy) and she would have to help him.

When they finally arrive at the HQ, she gently leads him into the lab as the only penguin both actually qualified for medical work and who knows how to work the machinery.

The rest of the team wait in the living room. Trixy sits down next to a distraught Private, trying to assure him that Kowalski would be all right. Rachel and Rico sit around a game of cards, trying to take their minds off things. Well. At least Rachel is.

Skipper is too tense to sit down, so he paces around the entire HQ. He suddenly speaks up with a fake bravado. "All this gentle mush is ridiculous. I think a simple wake-up slap should wake him out of this stupor."This earns him a hard smack from a furious Skippsy. Skipper looks at her, shocked and slightly scared at the fierce expression on her face.

"Don't you ever say that again. I'm an interrogator, I know what trauma is and looks like. So don't you dare." Skipper doesn't say anything in return, just returns to pacing around the room.

* * *

"Kowalski." Marissa says gently but firmly. His head snaps around, eyes somewhat out of focus. "You're going to have to let go of my flipper now." She speaks as if to a young child.

He suddenly protests. "No! Then you'll leave because you hate me." He rambles, slightly incoherently.

"I'm going to be right here, where you can see me." She assures him, at the same time freeing herself from the grip, steeling her patience. From experience, she knows that that is the effective way to deal with shell shock. "I promise."

She turns around to open the medical kit that she had found under his desk. She turns around to assess his condition. She notices several horizontal burns, as if from electrical wires wrapped around his body. "What did they do to you?" She asks gently, taking the burn ointment and applying it gently. He winces as she touches it but soon relaxes as it soothes he pain. He shakes his head, unwilling to speak about the torture that they had put him through.

"You have to tell me so that I can help you." She states firmly. "Are you hurt?" He shakes his head again, looking at her fearfully, and she realizes that she wouldn't be getting anything useful out of him.

She sighs in annoyance, and notices a large web of bruises on his face. Several of them had begun to bleed, seeming to have been clawed. She runs the tip of her flipper over it gently, careful not to touch it. She suddenly gives him a reassuring smile.

"This is going to hurt, but I'm going to help you." She states, opening a single-packed alcohol-soaked wipe. She runs it down his face and feels him tense up but stay put trustfully. She then pulls out a large bandage and wraps it around the injured part.

"There. You're okay now, aren't you?" She asks with a smile. Kowalski nods uncertainly.

"Good." She nods in approval, smiling again, but internally her heart twists in worry. Newton himself knew what other injuries he might be hiding.

"Thank- thank you, Marissa." He said quietly. Marissa feels a wave of relief wash over her. If he recognizes her, then the condition isn't as bad as she had feared. "You're welcome." She smiles, jumping up onto the single bunk his lab holds next to him.

"Doris was right not to trust me!" He shouts suddenly, hiding his face to the wall.

"Come on, now." Marissa tries to think of something comforting to say. "That's exaggeration. Doris trusts you."

"Then she shouldn't!" He replies, self-disgust evident in his voice.

Marissa spends the rest of that evening trying to speak calmly and reassuringly. By midnight, her nerves are entirely frayed and she has to stop herself not to snap at him. "Why don't you go to sleep now?" She suggests insistently.

Kowalski nods. Marissa smiles, maybe she will have some time for herself to unwind. "Will you stay?" He asks. Marissa feels like punching him in the face, but she shrugs gently.

"I'll be in the same room." She assures him, and not long later, he is in a deep sleep. Marissa shakes her head in relief, knowing that she wouldn't sleep that night. She walks up to his extensive library (which she is surprised by, seeing as he can't read) and takes out a thick tome on dealing with torture victims. She blows on it to dust it off and buries herself in the lecture…

* * *

Marissa has just drifted off to sleep on top of the thick, dusty tome, when she is jolted awake by a voice.

Kowalski is talking in his sleep. "Doris…" he mutters, several times over before an insane idea births itself in Marissa's sleep-deprived mind.

Perhaps it is a cruel trick to play, but it might bring results in the long run. "Yes… Kowalski, it's me." She speaks, trying to imitate the dolphin's gentle Hawaiian accent. It is harder than it seems, having to remember to seem to round each word she says.

"Doris…?" He asks, and for a second she fears that he will wake up and notice her but he doesn't. "I'm sorry. Can you ever forgive me?" He whispers instead, a pained expression on his sleeping face.

Marissa has to consider her next speech very carefully, both not to say something out of character for Doris, whom she had only met once, and not to foul up her only chance at saying something useful. "I'm not mad at you, Kowalski." She says gently, straining to keep the musical lilt in her tone. "There was nothing else you could have done."

"I… I trusted him. The man. He said he would spare you pain." He spoke each word as if it caused him suffering. "I should have died."

'_Doris is a very lucky woman._' Marissa realizes with a pang in her chest, but she quickly brushes it aside as she once again takes up the mantle of the dolphin.

"Don't say that. I would never forgive myself if you died for me."She argues with herself whether or not to comfort him but remembers that Doris is a dolphin and cannot walk on land like her.

"Doris… I have to tell you something." He admits painfully. Marissa is swallowed by a feeling of sudden panic, not sure if she wants to hear what he's about to say but curiosity and concern push her forward.

"Yes, what is it?" Marissa tries to stymie the shaking that threatens to show through in her faked tone.

"Doris… I love you. I love you like my own sister. But you were right when you said we could never be more than friends."

Marissa's heart stops as she tries to process the information. Only later would she realize the ridiculousness of the moment: she had just gotten Doris broken up by the guy the dolphin never gave the time of day in his sleep, while pretending to be her in order to save his sanity which he almost gave saving Doris'.

At the moment, however, she wonders if she should wake Kowalski before he finishes that sentence but she gets the odd feeling that she should hear him out.

"I didn't realize it until when the badger-woman was shouting at me. I thought that she was talking about… About her. And I realized how much it would hurt to lose her. But, Doris, how can I ever tell her about it? She doesn't give a tail feather about me. She told me that so many times…"

Marissa suddenly feels her heart break. She understands that Kowalski is talking about… Her, and the memories of all their arguing since that day at high school push themselves to the front of her mind.

"I'm sure," she whispers, making sure to keep the accent intact in the tornado of emotions that seems to grasp her in his clutches "That she cares more than you can ever know..."


End file.
